Bears on Show!

This really is a hobby for me, but ideally it needs to be self-financing as the materials I love to use are quite pricey and I can make anything up to three bears a week, so the house is getting fuller!

Until this point I've been using Folksy as a route to customers, but it occurred to me that a local outlet for the small number of bears that I produce would be a good idea. So, I've been chatting with the great and the good in my locality, and I've found a wonderful place to showcase the bears at a gallery/shop that specialises in local hand-made goods. It's called Foxy Lots and I've been dealing with the lovely Kim. They're fairly new and busy building up their online presence at the moment, but it's wonderful for me to share the bears in real life and give people an opportunity to see them in all their cuddly glory! Do go along to the shop if you're in Melton Mowbray - it's an absolute treasure trove of art and handmade lusciousness.

They'll be displayed next week in their own cabinet, and then the pictures will go onto their website and be available to buy there. I'll probably pop into the shop and take my own pictures before they go online, as I'm fascinated in how they are going to dress the display. This is a new experience for me, so I'm really quite excited, and I'll post the pictures here for you to see.

The bears will still be for sale on Folksy, and for the same prices, so if you want one, it's your choice of where to buy them.

And a big 'thanks' to James Colclough at Melton Toys and Trevor Neale at Bright Ideas for all their advice on the local trade and their invaluable experience in merchandising and selling in the current climate - which is   pretty ruddy flat in the gift market! However, it's been a real pleasure to take a product I've made by hand and experience trying to sell it. Not as much fun as making the bears, but the feedback and support I've received has been fabulous.